A BRAVE Cookley paramedic has scooped a prestigious award for helping save two people from an explosion at an apartment.

Sarah Lawrence, aged 29, and her West Midlands Ambulance Service colleague Neil Ashmore, were awarded the Ambulance Service Institute (ASI) Frontline Ambulance Persons of the Year honour at a ceremony at the House of Lords.

Sarah and Neil were first on the scene at a serious fire in Tipton in August last year. When they arrived, they found the second floor apartment well alight from which the two occupants had jumped from.

They started to treat them where they had fallen but were then forced to carry them to safety after the intense heat of the fire blew the windows out of the building.

At the ceremony, both were praised for their bravery before being presented with the award.

Sarah joined West Midlands Ambulance Service as an ambulance technician five years ago and is also a member of the Severn Area Rescue Association.

Baroness Browning, who presented all the awards, said: “What a privilege it is for all of us to hear these wonderful accounts of the bravery, professionalism and dedication of the people who will receive their awards today and of course the people in the teams they work for.”

The ASI awards recognised a number of ambulance staff, community first responsers and the military.

West Midlands Ambulance Service won two other awards – dedicated Smethwick motorcycle paramedic Steve Harris was given the ASI Present’s award after clocking up 36 years while the service was also given the ASI Innovation Award for its Mental Health Intervention Unit.